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Tuition teacher’s swanky entrance to BMICH ‘not permitted’ under law
View(s):By Tharushi Weerasinghe
The inquiry into the tuition teacher who used a police escort to arrive at an event is underway under the Western Province’s Senior Deputy Inspector General’s Office.
Controversy arose when videos of a celebrity tuition teacher, Hayeshika Fernando, using a police vehicle and four police motorcycles to make a fashionable entrance to a private concert for her academy were circulated on social media.
Police Media Spokesman SSP Buddhika Manatunga clarified to the Sunday Times that while police security can be provided to private events, a police VIP escort is not permitted under any circumstances.
“All the letters she presented in her application indicate that she wanted police protection for the 8000 children and an audience of 35000 people who were gathering for her event,” he noted, adding that the request letters did not indicate how the police ended up getting used in any way or form. As a policy Sri Lanka Police charges for security provided to private events. “If a school or public body requested this, we would not have charged for the security provided.”
He added that the officers on duty should also have known better and pulled out even at the last minute when they saw that what was approved was not what was being carried out. “They should have clarified before they went ahead with something that was clearly against protocol.” Any actions taken against the parties involved will depend on what the inquiry finds.
The Sunday Times reached out to Hayeshika Fernando through the contact number on her Facebook Page, which leads to a call centre set up to respond to queries. Despite repeated attempts, there was no official response from the teacher herself.
She did, however, take to Facebook Live earlier this week to respond to the allegations. She reiterated that her intentions were security-related but did not speak on why the police vehicles were used to escort her entrance. She maintains that her actions were within the framework of the law and the permissions granted to her.
Her manager, Chanaka Indrajith, also addressed the incident in a statement to a YouTube channel. He explained that the event was organised with genuine intentions and required significant personal funding. He added that a formal request for Police security was submitted following proper procedures and was duly approved.
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